by Ken Turner | Ministry Update, Outreach, Spiritual Growth, Youth Ministry
According to Fatherhood.org, one out of every three children in the US live in “biological father-absent” homes.
Children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be poor.
71% of high school dropouts are fatherless.
85-90% of youth in juvenile detention are fatherless.
According to 72.2% of the US population, fatherlessness is the most significant family or social problem facing America. (National Center for Fathering poll)
Here is what we are doing in a small way to make an impact. Our High Impact Teen youth outreach ministry visits teens in juvenile detention centers across Tennessee, Georgia and Indiana. We spend time with youth who are disconnected from their fathers.
We visit them, we do Bible studies with them and we pray with them.
During this “Father’s Day Week” we are providing a special Father’s Day card for several hundred of these youth to send to their dad. For those who have lost all connection to their dad, they will be sending the card to a “father figure” who has deeply impacted their life such as a grandfather, teacher, pastor, coach, mentor, etc…
We are asking our friends to join us this “father’s day week” in the DAD Project. Here’s how you can help:
1. Take a moment each day from now through Sunday to pray for the fatherless among us. Pray especially for those who are sending theses cards and pray for the men who receive the to be moved to re-engage with their teen.
2. Share this page via email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN or any other social media platform asking your friends to commit to pray once per day through this Sunday for the fatherless. Share the photo of the DAD Project.
3. Prayerfully ask God how you might connect with a fatherless young person. James 1:27 charges believers to engage with the fatherless. Here are the specific words of Jesus, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
4. Consider a donation to help with this project. The ministry of High Impact Teens is a ministry to the fatherless. We are supported by individuals and churches who believe that a deep investment in the fatherless among us is a priority that Jesus called us to do.
The DAD Project: James 1:27
Give $27.00
Give $127.00
Give $1270.00
Give any amount.
2. Mail your gift to: Ken Turner Ministries, PO Box 1325, Dayton, TN 37321.
*Ken Turner Ministries is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) religious non-profit organization. Your gifts are tax-deductible.
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THE FIVE DAYS OF THE DAD PROJECT
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Wednesday, June 17, 2015 – DAY ONE OF THE DAD PROJECT
- Pray for Dads who have a strained relationship with a son or daughter. Pray for God to heal and restore.
Thursday, June 18, 2015 – DAY TWO OF THE DAD PROJECT
- Pray for several hundred youth today that will be mailing a father’s day card from the juvenile detention facilities in Tennessee, Indiana and Georgia. High Impact Teens provided the cards and in some cases the postage. Teens who don’t have a father will be sending their card to a grandfather, uncle, mentor, pastor, teacher, etc… Pray that God will use this connection to forge stronger bonds between youth and their father or father/figure.
Friday, June 19, 2015 – DAY THREE OF THE DAD PROJECT
- Pray for children and adults who have been hurt by their dads. Pray for them to turn to God for healing from pain, bitterness and discouragement. Pray for them to begin to understand who God is as a Heavenly Father and understand His love for His children. He is a Father to the fatherless.
Saturday, June 20, 2015 – DAY FOUR OF THE DAD PROJECT
- Pray for men who are struggling to lead and protect their family. Pray for them to find courage and become courageous men of God who will stand in the gap for the spiritual, physical and emotional care of their families. Pray for God to connect them to Himself and one other man to be accountable to.
Sunday, June 21, 2015 – DAY FIVE OF THE DAD PROJECT
- Pray to God today, thanking Him for being a loving heavenly father. Ask Him to work miracles today in the hearts of dads and children to reconnect and start a new foundation of love and trust. Be sure to thank Him today for your own family. Also, ask Him how you might invest in a fatherless child moving forward.
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by Ken Turner | Ministry Update
*Randy was so mad! He slipped in to our Bible study after a last minute decision to come. He was mad at another guy who was controlling the TV in their room that evening in the detention center. He heard there was a Bible study that was about to start and he thought maybe there would be food. So he came… only for the food. He walked in to the room and it was obvious that he would be disappointed because there was no food. He sat down right next to me. We quickly jumped in to the Word and had a very lively study of the scripture and moment by moment his countenance changed. By the end of the study Randy was talking, asking questions and sharing insights about the text. He wanted to get something off his chest at the end. He said, “I came tonight because I was really mad at a guy in our unit and I thought this would be a way to get out and cool off… and I thought there would be food. But I have been fed spiritually and God has made it so clear that everything we studied tonight from the Bible was exactly what I needed. I’m so thankful God brought me here tonight.
In Christ,
Ken Turner
*Names are changed to protect the privacy of the youth we serve.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_content_boxes layout=”icon-with-title” columns=”1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_content_box title=”Give a Gift and Help Change The Life of a Teen” backgroundcolor=”#d8d8d8″ icon=”fa-comment” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” iconflip=”” iconrotate=”” iconspin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” linktext=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″]PS. Eighty-five to ninety percent of the youth we minister to are fatherless. This year we have been able to reach more youth than ever before and new ministry doors continue to open in youth facilities to provide Bible studies and discipleship. Approximately 60 donors make up our “ministry team” of partners that makes it all possible. Their gifts range from $25 up to several hundred dollars per month. Most of our supporters give monthly but some choose to give annually or quarterly. We’ve been blessed this year and with the expanded growth in to several states and every financial gift has made a big difference! Words can’t describe the gratitude we have for donors like you that stand in the gap to bring the hope of the gospel of Christ to the youth we serve. Please consider a year end gift to help reach high-risk and fatherless youth into the coming year! You can mail your gift to Ken Turner Ministries, PO Box 1325, Dayton, TN 37321 or give online at www.kenturnerministries.org/give
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by Ken Turner | Ministry Update
In 2012 the number of children confirmed to be victims of maltreatment in the USA was 603,854.
In 2013 the number of kids committed to state custody in Tennessee was 6954.
In 2014 I met more teens from more places that need the hope and strength that Christ provides than ever before. Through our High Impact Teen youth outreach ministry I have had the privilege to preach, teach, counsel and spend hours in one on one conversation with teens from Mississippi, Indiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and North Carolina. I’ve also had the opportunity to develop volunteer ministry teams that are now reaching even more youth in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Georgia and Tennessee. God is placing on the hearts of caring, committed adults to join us in ministry and that opens unlimited doors to reach more youth as we move forward in the days ahead.
*Ronnie has big dreams but he also has significant obstacles to overcome. I met him in the gym during recreation time at a juvenile development facility in Tennessee. He has a speech problem and that hinders his communication skills significantly but after a while we had a long conversation about his dreams. He was about to turn eighteen and was soon to be released. He had submitted his college application to the school he really wanted to attend and was waiting to hear whether he would be accepted. He said, “I’m either moving on to a college campus or into a homeless facility… those are my two options.” His words stunned me. I imagined being eighteen and facing the challenges Ronnie was facing. But as we talked more about his situation he began to tell me about a local church that had taken an interest in him. He said, “This church has raised money to help me buy books, they have been collecting clothes and school supplies and when I get that acceptance letter from the college, I’ll be ready.” He did get accepted into that college and that is great news! I’ve been in touch with him this fall and he has faced some significant challenges already but through other Christian connections in the area, we are trying to help him one step at a time.
*Jimmy is in the seventh grade. We played ping pong together at French Camp Academy, a Christian boarding school for nearly three hundred middle and high school students in French Camp, Mississippi. He stated pointedly, “My parents both died… that’s how I ended up here.” But he’s doing fine because he’s surrounded by an incredible Christian family of staff and great house parents who love him and are guiding him each day. I’m speaking four times this school year at French Camp Academy on spiritual growth principles for these youth.
Eighty-five to ninety percent of the youth we minister to are fatherless. This year we have been able to reach more youth than ever before and new ministry doors continue to open in youth facilities to provide Bible studies and discipleship. Approximately 60 donors make up our “ministry team” of partners that makes it all possible. Their gifts range from $25 up to several hundred dollars per month. Most of our supporters give monthly but some choose to give annually or quarterly. We’ve been blessed this year and with the expanded growth in to several states and every financial gift has made a big difference! Words can’t describe the gratitude we have for donors like you that stand in the gap to bring the hope of the gospel of Christ to the youth we serve. Please consider a year end gift to help reach high-risk and fatherless youth into the coming year! You can mail your gift to Ken Turner Ministries, PO Box 1325, Dayton, TN 37321 or give online at www.kenturnerministries.org/give
In Christ,
Ken Turner
*Names are changed to protect the privacy of the youth we serve.
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by Ken Turner | Ministry Update, Teens, Youth Ministry
A few years ago I received a call from Missionary Fred Kearney. He explained how he had walked in to his office and found a book on his desk in his office in Ghana, West Africa. To this day he has no idea how it got there. It was a High Impact Teen Spiritual Journal for youth. My phone number was printed on the book so he called me. He said, “We really need something like this.
Our youth have very few resources to help them understand the Word and grow.” He told me about a youth conference he was holding and we put together a plan to get 75 HIT Journals to their youth. Many of my ministry friends donated to help raise funds to get the books to these youth from surrounding villages. Fred told me weeks later how God had used the HIT Journal to revive the hearts of many of their youth. They really grew through the structure and discipline of keeping a spiritual journal.
NOW THEY NEED MORE
Fred Kearney has been in Africa for many years and is now in need of 200 HIT Journals for his upcoming youth conference called “Because of the Hour.” The youth will learn to have a consistent devotional life, keep a spiritual journal, keep an organized prayer journal, keep sermon notes and develop in seven areas of discipleship.
For every $12 given a HIT Journal will be provided to the youth in Ghana, West Africa. We need sponsors and donors. Could you give today to help with this special project? I have submitted the files to the printer and am trusting the Lord to provide so we can make this investment in the youth of Ghana, West Africa.
We need a total of $2400 to fund HIT Journals for 200 youth in Africa. The youth conference begins July
30 so we need to raise the funds in the next few days. I hope you will prayerfully consider a gift.
*Note: Any funds raised over the amount needed will provide HIT Journals to fatherless youth we are reaching in the outreach to juvenile detention centers.
GIVE TODAY
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by Ken Turner | Ministry Update
I am honored to preach in chapel this Friday morning, March 7, 2014 at New Hope Academy.
Here is a statement from their website:
We are a community of hope.
We believe that changing our culture begins with understanding and that understanding takes place in genuine relationships. Separately, we remain impoverished and underprivileged—the poor and affluent alike. Together, we become empowered and enlightened lifting one another to a Christ-centered life.
Learn more about New Hope Academy at http://www.nhafranklin.org
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by Ken Turner | Ministry Update, Outreach
Join us Monday night March 10 and Monday night March 17 from 6:00-7:15 PM for a special session for parents of teens.
Are you struggling to teach your teenager “right from wrong?” Are you feeling the pressures of friends, neighbors, media and society to be permissive, give your teen more space and give in when your heart tells you that you need to be more engaged as a parent in your teenager’s moral and spiritual character development.
Come join us for an open, honest look at a Biblical approach to parenting your teenager. Come find the courage you need to teach your teenager “right from wrong.”
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